Matter & Energy

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QUANTUM QUIRK Scientists observed a bizarre effect of quantum physics in light from a nearby neutron star, located in the constellation of Corona Australis (above). Light from the star, too faint to be seen in the image above, is polarized due to interactions with the vacuum of space in a strong magnetic field.

ESO, Digitized Sky Survey 2

SILLY SENSOR Scientists created a pressure sensor by mixing graphene into polysilicone, a stretchy, viscous goo, forming a gray putty, as shown by study coauthor Jonathan Coleman of Trinity College Dublin. Polysilicone is also found in the children’s toy Silly Putty, shown by Coleman’s son Oisin.

AMBER/Trinity College Dublin

TINY BUBBLES Cooking up Earth’s first life probably required many “pots.” Spatial segregation into different pools or separate droplets might have helped the first self-replicating molecules survive. Later, protocells like those shown here provided more stable compartmentalization.